Teacher Training in Shanghai (2007)

My itchy feet started back in 2007 when serendipity landed me in a teaching job in China. There I met many fantastic people, some of whom have become my life-long friends. Needless to say we had a great time over the year, and I managed to travel to over 40 places! 

So I'll start at the beginning - Shanghai, where we spent our first 2 weeks taking a crash course on how to teach.

It wasn't the first time I'd been to Shanghai, and I've been back there since 2007. Maybe I'm biased, having grown up in Hong Kong, but my impression of Shanghai has always been on the uninspiring side. For me it's just a huge metropolis, split between lots of expensive foreign brands, and pockets of derelict buildings from the Mao era. The genuinely historic sites are way off the beaten track (if they exist at all), whilst the famous ancient relics could only be visited if you paid a high price and were prepared to get sardined with local tourists.

Nonetheless, our first 2 weeks in China were novel and fun. Here are a few highlights :)

Zhujiajiao (朱家角) water village, on the outskirts of Shanghai

A typical way for people to carry goods

The Bund at night

Some of our cohort on the Bund

60 countries

OK so I've been leading a busy student life for the past few months - here's a post I'd written back in October which I admittedly forgot to publish!

Hoto's bucket list included travelling, so I challenged her. The first person to reach 60 countries wins. Currently I am on 25, and she is only 2 or 3 behind. 

Prize? Dinner at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
Game on.

Photo credit: Simon Duong

Her immediate response was that she probably won't know me when she gets to her 60, presumably in another 15-20 years time. So just in case she conveniently forgets when I reach the finishing line before her, let this blog post be the proof, and everyone reading this be witness!